Niagara University ROTC named top program with MacArthur Award selection

by jmaloni

Submitted

Mon, Mar 10th 2014 02:10 pm

Framed by university administrators and ROTC cadets, Lt. Col. Paul Dansereau and the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., proudly display the MacArthur Award.

Niagara University's ROTC program was presented with
the prestigious MacArthur Award Monday morning in recognition of its cadets'
performance during the 2012-13 school year.

Only eight schools are chosen from among the 273
senior ROTC units nationwide for the MacArthur Award, which is based on a
combination of the achievement of the school's commissioning mission and its
cadets' performance and standing on the Cadet Command's National Order of Merit
List, and its cadet retention rate.

The Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., Niagara University
president, accepted the award from Dr. Michael Anderson, deputy commander of
the Second ROTC Brigade.

In congratulating the cadets, Maher said, "You
signify the commitment to the discipline of excellence and that itself is an
excellent Vincentian value and virtue that we need to build even more deeply
into our university community. You've taken the core of the discipline of this
program and you've applied it in life. That's the essence of university and
collegiate education, where we take knowledge, we learn, we grow and we apply
it."

Presented by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and the
Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation, the honor acknowledges the ideals of "duty,
honor and country," as advocated by MacArthur.

Cadet Command and the MacArthur Foundation have
given the awards each year since 1989.

"You don't directly compete one brigade against
another for best in the nation," Anderson said, "but I bet if you did, given
the stats put up by this group, this would be the best ROTC program in the
entire nation. I think that's something to be proud of."

Since its re-establishment as a host ROTC program in
1999, the Niagara University Purple Eagle Battalion has been recognized as the
No. 1 program in the nation (2004) and previously earned the MacArthur Award in
2008.

"We are humbled to be selected for this prestigious
honor, which is truly a testament to the values, dedication and commitment of
our cadets and the support of the entire university community," noted Lt. Col.
Paul Dansereau, professor of military science. "This really reinforces Niagara
University's status as a premier preparatory institution for Army ROTC cadets."

As part of the event, certificates of appreciation
and commemorative military coins were presented to Maher; Dr. Timothy Downs,
vice president for academic affairs; and Dr. Tim Ireland, dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences.